Needing 10 points to secure the 2009-10 World Marathon Majors title after his second-place finish at last weekend’s Chicago Marathon, Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede didn’t immediately rule out stepping on the starting line of the last race in the series, the ING New York City Marathon, on November 7. Kebede’s representative, Valentin Trouw, said on Wednesday, however, that the 23-year old would bail on the race in the Big Apple.

“New York was never in his mind before Chicago,” Trouw told The New York Times. “He thought about it briefly after Chicago, but then we realized it was not a good idea. Tsegaye has a lot of good years to come, we hope at least 10 years and maybe 12.”